Aftermath of Sin: This Machine

chapter 8: Berserker Blood

Roy opened one eye slowly, drowsily, and yawned as wide as he could, stretching in his spot in the tent next to Riza. She was still sound asleep, but he didn't mind that... she looked cute when she was fast asleep... he twirled a strand of her hair around his finger, then unwound it and laid back down, his arms around her waist. She muttered something and shifted a little, then settled again, curling herself around his arm. He sighed. It couldn't get much better than this.

Jean was spending his time trying to pick a spot as far away from Aria as he could, a spot far enough to avoid her, yet still be close enough to get to camp when needed. Matteas had sighed and agreed to help him, though not before trying to convince him to chill out. "C'mon Jean, she's cute. Why not give her a try?"

"No."

"She likes you alot."

"Doesn't matter."

"Jean... you could at least get to know her..."

"I don't know who I am, Matteas!"

"...back to that again, are we? You're Jean Montague."

Jean pulled at his bangs, frustrated. "No, I'm not! I'm... I'm someone else... I-I... can't... remember."

"What can you remember? Anything?"

"Just... my father. I remember my father... but he looked just like me... and he wasn't around very much. He always... looked sad when he left. His name was Galahad, I think... I think... oh, I don't even remember that!" he kicked a rock on the ground angrily, then looked at Matt. "I guess I could get to know her. But no more than that!"

"Rrriiight. Watch, you'll be smooching by next week, I guarantee you."

Jean snorted. "I very much doubt that," he said, tossing his stuff by the base of an old tree. He liked to sleep in tree branches... he was a 'tree person'. Matteas waved his hand in the direction of camp. "Go on. She's probably back at camp; girls never stray far from camps."

"Ha! That's a load of garbage!" Matt whipped around and was face to face with Aria."Who says girls stick to camps, eh? I sure don't!" Matt stuck his tongue out at her.

"Why don't ya just run back to your mommy," he said, and Jean picked him up by the scruff of his neck, lifting him up to eye level.

"Now now... that was rude." Matt crossed his arms over his chest and Jean shook him. "You should apologize, Matteas." Matt muttered an obstinate 'no' and Jean shook him for another ten minutes before Matt's brain turned to mush. Matt held his head and groaned. "Man, what kind of batteries do you run on? Energizer? Aaaagh... Okay! I'm sorry!" Jean nodded in approval and dropped Matt onto his behind on a rather bumpy and pointy rock. Matt yelped one more time and leaped off the rock, and Aria laughed at him; even Jean couldn't suppress the beginnings of a grin.

Ari seized Jean's arm and led him away, but he kept stony faced and went along with her with no protest. He didn't know what to do. What on earth do you do in a situation like this? He tried to think of anything that Windsor had said that could possibly help, but for some reason, 'blood-sucking alien' seemed to pop up first and foremost. That wasn't good. He shook his head and instead focused on her.

She looked young... very young, and he groaned inwardly. She only came up to his mid-chest, and that included the height of her shoes and her bandana. She was quite petite and slim in figure, but muscular as well on the arms and legs, and she had good curves... he groaned inwardly again. Her hair was a nice shade of blonde, not pure yellow, but not orangey either, somewhere in between, and her eyes were blue-green. Sure, she was cute... but...

Ariel was scrutinizing him as well, though he had been caught up in his head too much to notice. She thought he was perfect... okay, not perfect... but still. He was so tall... tall and broad shouldered, muscular, and his hands looked twice as big as hers. At least there wasn't any flab on him... he had a nice face too, his face was long and his jaw was strong, his nose wasn't anything to die for... but it was... uh... interesting. It was just a bit long... but it was okay. His eyes were piercing and the most stunning shade of pure-blue she had ever seen, and his eye shape looked almost droopy and lazy... a grin added to that and he would look lazy. His bushy patch was yellow-blonde and the rest was a darker shade of blonde, almost brown. She sighed and a heart popped out of her head, and Jean jumped a few inches.

Oh God, what was he supposed to do? She was like another species of animal! A different organism completely... she wasn't even like the other girls who came up to him for one night stands... (what were those anyway? Hmm... maybe he'd ask her what that was.) She liked to sigh and look at him, which alarmed him as well. Lady Montague used to do that to Lord Montague right before their son was born...

He must have looked increasingly alarmed, because Ari looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

"Uh... eh... nothing."

"There is something wrong. You're turning red." She pointed at his face and he tried to remain calm. He then vaguely wondered how people had babies anyway. Something else to ask about. She insisted that he sit down and he did, and she sat across from him. "So..." she said, examining her hand, nervous. "How old are you? I'm eighteen." She said. Jean groaned again.

"I'm... you're too young."

"Wha-?"

"Look, I can't do this, you're just... too young." He got up quickly, his face red, and started to back away. She grabbed his wrist and he stopped, looking back at her, and she looked determined to have an answer. "How old?"

"I'm... thirty." Her eyes just narrowed and seemed to sparkle, and he was confused for a moment before he realized they were the beginnings of tears. "So I'm not even good enough to get to know just cause I'm eighteen?"

Jean groaned inwardly again, for the third time. How did he always manage to land himself in deep shit?

"I mean... umm... I..."

"WELL IF I'M NOT GOOD ENOUGH, TAKE THIS!" she cried, jumping into the air and kicking him in the cheek. He staggered backwards from the force of the blow; it was pretty good, considering he was a K-Series. "Look, Ari... I..." his cheeks were reddening again, and there seemed to be an odd kind of tightening in his chest, a lump in his throat. Then he felt something behind her and he lunged forward, grabbing her waist and turning around, shielding her with his back as a blast ripped the back of his uniform open. He grunted from the impact and Ari froze, wide-eyed, her fingers digging into his forearms.

Jean turned his head sharply to stare at Tyvan, and a tinge of red seemed to enter his eyes before disappearing again, his breathing becoming normal after a breath spasm of labored breath. He straightened and turned slowly. "K-18," he stated, and Tyvan nodded in recognition.

"Greetings, 666, I see you've managed to immerse yourself with the runaway. You realize it could mean your immediate destruction."

"It matters not. Your business, I see, is with me. Don't involve anyone else."

"Ah. You mean the girl? Now now... no hard feeling, 666."

"I hold grudges, 18."

"Do you? So do I. And I have something to ask of you, 666. If you answer willingly, then I'll have nothing further to discuss with you, and I'll be on my way. If you do not..." Tyvan opened his hand and black fire emerged from it. "I will take it from you, torture you until you spit it out."

"Just ask the question."

"Alright. 666... have we met before?"

"'Before'?"

"Before we were augmented."

"...I... no."

"Wrong answer!" his hand flamed and he lunged forward. Jean opened his hand as well and yellow fire burst forth, throwing it so that it met Tyvan's mid-strike. The blasts collided and exploded, and Tyvan rushed forward out of the smoke, his arms glowing black, and Jean ran power through his own arms, making them glow white. Their fingers intertwined and they pushed against one another, both becoming weaker and weaker with every second that they were connected at the fingers. Jean diverted power to his leg and lashed out at Tyvan, and it connected, sending the other K-Series flying to the side. Tyvan cursed and righted himself in midair using an energy stream to slide in a loop and get him resituated, but he did not go for another strike at Jean. Jean hesitated; why was he stopping?

"Look behind you, 666." Jean turned.

"Ariel!" Hinata had Ariel pinned, a dagger at her throat, her gray eyes looking to Tyvan for direction.

"Tell me what I need to know, 666, or she dies."

"No... no..." Jean moaned and held his head. Something in his head just seemed to snap, snap over and over and over and over again... and he couldn't take it... it was... making him... angry... infuriating him. He looked up at Tyvan from his hunched position, murder in his eyes, blue eyes slowly tinging over with red. He turned slowly to Hinata and she hesitated. Tyvan dashed forward at light speed and grabbed Hinata, then appeared back at the position he was formerly in. Jean turned slowly again and his eyes locked on Tyvan's, but Tyvan smiled.

"That proves it; we have met before. You... you're a berserker. You have berserker blood in your veins... interesting. Well, I've got what I needed, but next time we meet shall surely be a fight to the death." And then he disappeared. Jean fell to his knees holding his head, his forehead pressed against the ground, and Ari held his shoulder and shook him gently.

"Berserker... blood...? Berserker... berserker..." he felt like he was going to throw up, not become berserk, and he put a hand on his stomach, using the other one to support himself. He managed to sit back on his behind and Ari held out her hands, then hesitated. "Are you... hurt anywhere?" she asked.

"I don't know... I feel like I'm going to throw up... and my head hurts." She put her hands on his stomach and her hands glowed, alleviating his stomach pains. His head pains, however, did not go away. "Thank you..." he said, and she nodded, and she sighed, and her shoulders sank. "That takes a lot of energy... I can't do it too many times."

"Well, the more you do it the better you'll get. You might be able to do it for longer periods."

"Hey, why are you giving advice? You should be resting."

"I am, I am," he assured her. He was quiet for a while, but then he looked at her. "Are you alright?" She nodded and looked into his eyes.

"Thanks." Jean shook his head.

"It was... nothing. We should probably head back."